Got the platinum earlier, special boss was the last trophy. 103 hours Still need to do the last dungeon and all sealed ones, get the special weapons (sniper etc), and find the treasure maps. Anything else hidden? Worthwhile to sleep at every camp to see if anything happens?
Got the platinum earlier, special boss was the last trophy. 103 hours Still need to do the last dungeon and all sealed ones, get the special weapons (sniper etc), and find the treasure maps. Anything else hidden? Worthwhile to sleep at every camp to see if anything happens?
Okay, so I finished the game and I took some time to gather some of thoughts together into a review.
Just to preface, over the years Final Fantasy has been my favourite franchise and this has probably been my most anticipated game since FFXIII was released. So it is a game that I have been hyped for, for a long ass time.
Well, straight off the bat I feel the game ended up as a skeleton of what could have been something very special. The games main failings lie in its lack of consistency, content where it matters, and coherence throughout. I will start off with what I feel are the pros, and then move on to the weaknesses. Spoilers are marked, and pretty spoilerific. This is long and rambling, and probably doesnt say much new, but I wanted to air my thoughs.
Pros
Visuals
So after much drama pre-release, I think it is safe to say that FFXV turned out pretty stellar visually, particularly on PS4 Pro. What impressed me most about this game was the sense of scale. I dont think I have ever played an RPG/character action game which conveys landscape scale as good as this. The lighting system is also great, and looked particularly good when the sun comes out after rain. Main character models and enemy models are also impressive, while NPCs are less so. Modelling is generally excellent, but there is some inconsistency in the texturing, which mostly sticks out in the Leid and Altissia. Lastly, effects work is well done, particularly in Summons.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack lived up to expectations in my opinion. In fact, it may have been the only aspect, aside from the visuals that delivered on its initial promise. I think the combination of epic and melodrama is so discernibly final fantasy. Apocolypsis Dovarkin, I mean Noctis captures this perfectly. Of course, Somnus is just as memorable as its initial reveal. Overall, my favourite OST this gen.
Melee Combat
The combat is frenetic and not always as strategic as I would have liked. But I do like the mobility of the combat, even though the camerawork cant keep up. Switching between weapons is really cool, as is phasing. It makes you feel badass and looks badass. However, I feel that Noctis doesnt really have many special moves in the tradition of the games, even though he has far more slashes than previous games. Armigear is cool, but I would like to have seen limit break attacks. I did enjoy the Melee fights with Arenea, Ravus and Ifrit the most.
Open World Design
I found that the open world segment was, in a microcosm, fairly convincingly laid out and connected. I am praising its structure and layout, rather than its content. Crudely, it felt less gamey than something like Vellan in Witcher 3, although also perhaps less crafted. I loved the fact that you could see the meteor for miles. I think it is a good start, but I would like to say more content and variety really. The game should have had two big open worlds, the second being centred around Altissia.
Main Characters
While the crew werent particularly interesting in isolation, they worked well as a group and I enjoyed their interactions. My feelings are pretty in line with the general consensus, so I wont elaborate much here. I also think the banter that occurs along the way was well implemented. Unfortunately, the game seems to flesh out most of its content there, and cutscenes are sparse and rather poorly directed compared to previous entries.
The Ending
The ending did pack an emotional punch, although less so because of the incoherence of what had come before. What is strange is that the ending feels pretty complete, which seems at odds with rest of the game. I think it makes sense in the context of the overall plot, I just wish there was a lot better build up It isnt my favourite that would go to FFVIII.
Summons
Summons look suitably flashy. In terms of the visuals and their cut scenes, it very much hits the mark. The implementation is interesting, but has issues that I will discuss in the cons.
Enemy Design
Another highlight, few complaints here. It is generally impeccable. What is lacking is more super bosses that are intimidating.
Ultima weapon for instance is pathetic next Diamond Weapon in Kingsglaive.
Promptos Photos
Great feature and entertaining.
Weaknesses
Location Variety
I like the locations that are there, there just isnt enough fantasy or scifi in the game, and it comes up short when sat next to previous entries. It is ridiculous that you dont get to explore Tenebrae, and Altissia is cordoned off
Cities
There should have been far more content in both cities. They look amazing but have embarrassingly little content. What were you thinking Tabata? Are HD towns still that hard? When you can actually implement, content was a step too far?
The Plot
It is not coherent. The premise is at strong odds with the easy going road trip jaunt that forms the bulk of the game. The transition into the darker final segments are bizarre and feel very out of place. Ultimately the game has a good basic premise and with care, could have been an excellent story, but in the end there is just very little content there to justice to the scope that the basic premise of the story requires. There is very little attention given to any of the characters aside from the main cast. Luna and Ravus being major botch jobs in terms of exposition and missing events that build character. In sum it feels barebones, unpolished and unfinished. It is a missed opportunity. I actually feel that the plot of Witcher 3: Blood and Wine is actually bigger in terms of high quality cutscenes than FFXV. Despite the fact that the FFXV plot seems to be of much greater scope, it doesnt reflect in the content.
How the Plot is Told
There is a serious lack of exposition in this game. So many major events take place offscreen and it is very difficult to understand why this is the case. I dont think I have ever played a game that does it quite this way, and I was continuously scratching my head wondering who thought this was a good idea. It lessens the impact of dramatic events, shrinks the content significantly and leaves the narrative full of holes. Fail.
Treatment of Female Characters
In the end, I dont think the whole spiel about a male road trip really justified itself. It could have started out that way, but they should have expanded the cast to include female members. Aside from adding a serious magic user from the cast, it could have broadened the character interactions. I also think Tabata has got a lot of explaining to do in regards to Luna. Her role as a simple plot devise and the angelic damsel in distress is pretty disappointing, particularly since there have been some pretty strong female characters in the series previously. Cindy being the only other major female character is embarrassing. Arenea is introduced but has very little part to play in the actual plot. Poor treatment of female characters, no excuses.
Cutscenes
It felt like there was far fewer cutscenes in this game as compared to previous entries, and that some of the cutscenes were surprisingly poorly directed. As has been brought up by others, the quality and directing of the cutscenes makes me think of Tabatas roots in mobile gaming
Melee Combat
It is fast and frenetic but in reality often boils down to hacking and slashing. I feel wait more should have been better integrated into the game and you could slow down combat in real time to give some space to act more strategically. More variation in enemy armour would have been welcome.
Magic
I like the environmental effects, but otherwise the most disappointing magic in the series. Where was Holy? Ultima? Magic is neither has visually spectacular, as varied, or as well integrated as previous games. The grenade casting looks a bit crap as well. It is useful, just not as badass.
Summons
There are too few. Just having the basic summons was again disappointing, even if they looked very cool. I think there should be a way of calling them as you please when you master the game. Summons are a central part of FF, and while I think the implementation that they turn up under specific conditions is a cool idea, game-wise it kind of sucks.
Side-quests
Bare-bones and repetitive. I enjoy the hunts well enough, but there is no lore or story behind them. Everything else is effectively the same, bare bones tasks which have very little meaningful content. I wish they would take a look at what the Witcher 3 has done and take inspiration.
Armour or Lack There Of
The game has no armour mechanic and I find that disappointing. I would have liked to have customised their appearances much more. The casual wear just looked silly. I do like the Royal garments, but it doesnt make up for the lack of variety.
Talcott and Jared
Who?
Conclusion
This is a flawed game, which I think has real strong elements visuals, OST, main cast, etc. However, it remains painfully unfinished. It is like they completed have the content, tied the loose plot threads together, polished it up, and released the game. I enjoyed it but I am very glad we can move on. I would like FFXVI to be open world structure which more content than there is here but they must learn some lessons from what CD Project did with Witcher 3. A good story, well told needs to be the number one priority for the next FF. There is no shortage of people who can write a better story than was delivered here.
I am looking forward to the episodic DLC. Hopefully they include new locations.
i'm 20 hours in, and I honestly think i'm spending too much time on sidequests.
I mean, sometimes it's worth doing some for the extra levels or money, but I getting pretty board with the 'go here, kill that' nature of seemingly every last quest.
anyone got any solid tips for Sealed Costlemark? I had to run out of there with my tail between my legs yesterday, barely made it through the flaming Jormangud fight without spamming magic, only me and Prompto survived.
There are a few different playstyles, you can go for blindsides, use warp points to damage enemies and parts safely, use shields to stagger swarms more easily. Otherwise it's not a very complicated game outside of having the right gear.
so i shelved the game for a while (shortly before christmas) and recently wanted to dive in again and updated the game. now the saves appear to be unusable? wtf?
anyone got any solid tips for Sealed Costlemark? I had to run out of there with my tail between my legs yesterday, barely made it through the flaming Jormangud fight without spamming magic, only me and Prompto survived.
It was easy having Ignis with the Grand Chamberlin accessory and healing Noctis. It didn't even need to use any Healcast spells. Although, it could have been that my chars were lvl99 and had all the best gears.
Finished the game last night. A good ending and the last chapter was pretty epic. I posted more in the spoiler thread. I feel like some youtubers are asspulling some information from an untrustworthy narrator.
The embarrassment of the whole Chapter 13 was 100% purged with the incredible and terrific Chapter 14. And that ending, wow. Hats off to Square for that last part of the game (CH14).
I got back to Hammerhead and did the first Menace Dungeon. Found two weapons: Dominator and some Super Gun for Prompto, yes!!!
Question: do I need to do all Menace Dungeons (LVL99 as well) for Platinum?
Yeah this is really annoying. If I want to take fall damage, let me! But I've also noticed that it kinda seems like the markers the game places when you auto-drive take these invisible walls into consideration to a fair degree. I've second guessed the marker so many times thinking I could do better, only to get burned because the game's first suggestion was way better xD So try that!
I was thinking something was bugged since I couldn't get the Sealed Door quest to pop, and then realised that I hadn't actually found Daurell Caverns yet. That was a pleasant surprise, even if reaching the Sealed Door itself was a bit finnicky.
95 hours and I'd managed to miss an entire dungeon. I love this game
I was thinking something was bugged since I couldn't get the Sealed Door quest to pop, and then realised that I hadn't actually found Daurell Caverns yet. That was a pleasant surprise, even if reaching the Sealed Door itself was a bit finnicky.
95 hours and I'd managed to miss an entire dungeon. I love this game
I saw it, warped to it, accidentally fell down and then the battle ended before I could warp back up. Had to leave the dungeon, come back, redo that fight and stand on the scaffold near the end of the battle using magic and guns for ranged attacks.
The stupid part is that you can't lower the ladder (or do any Action commands) while in combat mode. It also bothers me when I want to pick up treasures in the field, but can't because I'm in the enemy radar.
There are a lot of QoL problems like this which if fixed, would make the experience just that much smoother.
What was it about chapter 14 that people really liked? Did I miss something?
I actually didn't hate chapter 13 anywhere near as much as I expected to, some parts were really good, it just was a bit too long.
I saw it, warped to it, accidentally fell down and then the battle ended before I could warp back up. Had to leave the dungeon, come back, redo that fight and stand on the scaffold near the end of the battle using magic and guns for ranged attacks.
The stupid part is that you can't lower the ladder (or do any Action commands) while in combat mode. It also bothers me when I want to pick up treasures in the field, but can't because I'm in the enemy radar.
There are a lot of QoL problems like this which if fixed, would make the experience just that much smoother.
I did exactly the same and I thought I was "breaking" the game. Is it really the only way to do that? Stand on top of the scaffolding while the battle lasts and let your friends finish off the Iron Giant + Necromancer + Hecteyes combo?
That seems... unlike anything else in the game. There is no other point in the game where you have to wait in a specific place without moving for the combat to end.
I did exactly the same and I thought I was "breaking" the game. Is it really the only way to do that? Stand on top of the scaffolding while the battle lasts and let your friends finish off the Iron Giant + Necromancer + Hecteyes combo?
That seems... unlike anything else in the game. There is no other point in the game where you have to wait in a specific place without moving for the combat to end.
I agree, it's really weird. Earlier in the dungeon Prompto points out a different scaffold so the game does warn you to look out for them, and I'm fine with that...but I don't think anyone mentions it during battle.
Having ranged attack options facilitates the method of staying up there, but it still felt like cheating to do it. There's a lack of signposting, which is uncharacteristic since other battles with unconventional moments spell it out to you clearly through dialogue. A strange moment for sure.
I did exactly the same and I thought I was "breaking" the game. Is it really the only way to do that? Stand on top of the scaffolding while the battle lasts and let your friends finish off the Iron Giant + Necromancer + Hecteyes combo?
That seems... unlike anything else in the game. There is no other point in the game where you have to wait in a specific place without moving for the combat to end.
I used magic and then warped immediately after using it. And then the controls decided they didnt want to cooperate, so instead of taking a step towards the ladder I stepped right off the platform, had to do it again.
I like the idea though, for a post-game dungeon that's sort of clever.
After work tomorrow I'll do the mines and tower for the last two royal arms, then I just need to max fishing and beat the adamantoise.
I assume I need to level a bit for that last one, only at 58 right now. How should I go about that? Could smash out all the hunts, only on rank 3 for them.
Also what's a good weapon for him?
After I get the plat what else is worth doing with post game dungeons and stuff?